Looking for a Kokolingo alternative for your child

What Kokolingo is

Kokolingo comes from E-Glas d.o.o. in Croatia, where it began as a Croatian-language programme endorsed by the national education agency, and it now has English versions run from kokolingo.com (US) and kokolingo.co.uk (UK), plus Polish. It is a web-based app, so it runs in a browser on a computer or tablet, and there is an Android app on Google Play (updated August 2026). Its App Store listing is the Croatian-language app on the Croatian storefront; there is no Kokolingo in the US App Store.

The content is more than 300 games and activities across the speech sounds, organised by sound and by level from listening through syllables and words to sentences and short stories, with usage statistics by day and month. It was built with licensed paediatric SLPs and is used by therapists for remote work as well as by parents at home.

Pricing in the US, from Kokolingo's own pricing page: three tiers, Mini, Basic and Smart, at $19.95, $29.95 and $39.95 a month on the current discounted price (list prices $30, $45 and $60), with six-month prepay options from $59.85 to $119.85. There is a free trial with no contract, and the UK FAQ describes 5% and 10% discounts for three- and six-month prepayment. Over a year, that is roughly $240 to $480.

Why parents look for a Kokolingo alternative

• The monthly price. $19.95 to $39.95 a month is $240 to $480 a year, which is six to twelve times Help Me Talk's yearly price and more than most families budget for a practice app.
• No iPhone or iPad app in the US. For an American family whose child practises on the iPad, Kokolingo means the browser. That works, but it is not the same as a native app with the microphone, offline lessons and a home-screen icon a child can open alone.
• The adult is the judge. Kokolingo's activities are games the child plays with a parent or therapist checking the production. Nothing on its site describes listening to and scoring the child's attempt, so whether that S was good enough is your call.
• The web login. A browser app means an account, a login and a connection every time, which is fine on a laptop and clumsy on a tablet in the car.
• The trial has moved before. Kokolingo's US FAQ still carries text about the programme being free during the COVID-19 period, while the pricing page shows the tiers above. Check what you are signing up for on the day.

Help Me Talk vs Kokolingo

The two apps agree on the basics: one sound at a time, worked from easy to hard, with a parent doing the daily practice. Where they split is who judges, and where it runs.

Help Me Talk listens. Your child says the word, the app scores how close the pronunciation was, and it tracks that sound's scores week by week. That is the whole point of the app for a parent who does not know what a correct R sounds like, and it is not something Kokolingo advertises. It also builds the daily plan: a short questionnaire about age, worries and time available turns into three short activities a day against a four-week goal, so nobody has to choose from 300 activities at bedtime.

It runs as a native app on iPhone, iPad and Android, which is where most children's practice happens, and it costs $39.99 a year. The honest weaknesses: it is one developer's app with a few dozen US ratings; it is English only; and the detailed scoring runs on a server, so offline it records practice and gives a verdict without an accuracy number.

• Help Me Talk wins on: scored attempts, native iPhone and iPad apps, price, the daily plan
• Kokolingo wins on: breadth of activities, SLP-built content, browser access on a computer, language versions, therapist use

Where Kokolingo is stronger

• Breadth. More than 300 games and activities is a lot of variety, and for a child who tires of the same format it matters. Help Me Talk's variety comes from the size of its word bank rather than from the number of activity types.
• Clinical pedigree. It was built with licensed paediatric SLPs and carries an official endorsement in its home country. Help Me Talk uses published norms but is built by one developer.
• A computer. If practice happens at a desk in a browser, Kokolingo is the one that runs there. Help Me Talk is mobile only.
• Therapist workflows. SLPs use Kokolingo for remote sessions and can follow a child's usage statistics. Help Me Talk has no therapist login.
• Croatian and Polish. For a family in or from either country, there is no comparison to make.

Who should switch, and who should not

Choose Help Me Talk if your child practises on an iPhone or iPad in the US, you want the app to score the attempts because you are not confident judging them, you would rather pay $39.99 once a year than $20 to $40 every month, and you want a plan handed to you rather than a library to choose from.

Stick with Kokolingo if you are working with a therapist who assigns it, you practise at a computer, your child needs the variety of hundreds of activity types, or you want a programme built by SLPs above one built by a developer. At its price it is a serious tool and it is fair to treat it as one.

They are not quite the same product. Kokolingo is a library of therapist-designed activities you run; Help Me Talk is a practice coach that listens and keeps score. Some families use the free sound pages on this site for word lists and games alongside either of them, and that costs nothing.